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Chapter Text

Once upon a very long time ago, in the time of Draux, there was an order of knightly dragons, from a kingdom beyond the Beyond, who would rise each night into the blackness and perform noble deeds.They spoke no words but true ones, their purpose was to right all wrongs, to make strong the weak, mend the broken, vanquish the proud, and make powerless those who abused the frail.

Map

The Great Tree's Guide to the Dragons of the Beyond

Sky Wing
Dragons of the Sky family are typically quiet and fast flyers. They have the largest wingspan of any Wing and are built for long distance flying making them sought after in the Battle-and-Rescue and Hunting-and-Gathering Claws. Sky dragonets are known for learning to fly at an earlier age than most other Wings. Additionally, they have extremely good eyesight, hearing and can breathe fire. Typical Sky colouring is pale brown, brown, reddish-browns and cream colours. They often have darker-coloured speckling on their wings, and lower bodies. Pale faces are typical, with extremely dark eyes with irises that are rarely visible.

Sea Wing
Dragons of the Sea family are known to be short in height but have long slender bodies. They have webbed talons and powerful tails to help them dive underwater. Their wings are smaller in size, and many have difficulty flying long distances, preferring to alternate swimming and flying to their destinations. Can hold their breaths underwater for upwards of an hour by supplementing oxygen with gills on the side of their necks, and have excellent night-vision. Dragon’s of this Wing are sought after in Weather Interpretation and Research-and-Printing Claws. Typical Sea colouring is grey, dark grey, whites and blacks. They are usually darkly coloured on the top of their bodies, and pale coloured on their undersides, with occasional colourful bursts of scales in some individuals. Reflective scales run along their bodies. Their eyes are typically green or blue in colour.

Sand Wing
Dragons of the Sand family are typically the smallest in size of all of the Wings. They are adapted to desert environments and are able to go long periods without food or water. They are naturally gifted navigators, often using the cloudless desert night sky to navigate. They have paralyzing stingers are known to be resistant to certain poisons. They are sought out for Navigation and Tracking Claws. Typical Sand Wing colouring is yellows, sandy-browns and dark browns. Typically heavily speckled.

Rain Wing
Dragons of the Rain family are great climbers, with long slender tails for exceptional balance. They are also strong flyers, and are known to handle poor flying conditions very well. Additionally, their fangs can spit a corrosive venom that eats away at flesh slowly. This Wing can often be found in Healing, Weather Interpretation and Colliering Claws. Typical Rain Wing colouring varies wildly, and can include greys, whites, blacks, browns, greens, golds, and even the occasional red or orange. Because of their varied appearances, Rain Wings can often camouflage themselves very well in certain environments. Some have noted that their scales change colour or brighten under sunlight.

Night Wing
Dragons of the Night family are the largest in size and are typically strong flyers. Their large size and strong builds makes them highly sought after in the Battle-and-Rescue Claw. They are also easily able to melt away in the night sky due to their typical black and dark-grey colouring. They also posses very good night vision, and dragonets who are born under a full moon are rumoured to have prophetic abilities. They can breathe fire in short bursts. Typical Night Wing colouring is black, dark grey, and white. Individuals have white speckling underneath their wings, described by some as reflections of the night sky.

Mud Wing
Dragons of the Mud family are typically large in size and are powerful diggers, often choosing to live underground. They can also hold their breaths for upwards of 20 minutes, a possible adaptation to survive cave-ins. Dragons of the Mud family are sought after for Blacksmithing and Colliering Claws due to their robust and strong natures. Additionally, they can breathe extremely hot fire in short bursts. Typical Mud Wing colouring is deep browns, blacks, and creams, and they may also have gold or orange scales.

Ice Wing
Dragons of the Ice family are covered in sharp, long scales running down their backs and boast large wingspans. Their claws are extremely sharp and they are able to camouflage very well in snowy environments. They can resist very cold temperatures and can navigate even in blizzards. Additionally, they have very cold breath, that can be concentrated to freeze things. Most individuals are prone to overheat in hot environments. They are sought after in Research-and-Printing and Navigation Claws. Typical Ice Wing colouring is white and light greys, with black speckling.

Chapter Text

Prologue

Dragonets of Ash

The sun blazed as it slowly peaked over the horizon, like a red eye glaring at the sprawling forest before it. A hot glow suddenly illuminated the undersides of the trees as the brush below burst into flames. Dry grasses and parched bushes sprung to fiery life, the flames quickly spreading from crackling underbrush and starting its climb up the trunks of the spruce trees. Perched high above on a rocky outcrop, a Sky Wing watched the fiery destruction growing below, her pearly white scales reflecting the light from the dawn sun oddly.

A black dragon circled up from the forest, only the greys and whites splattering his body revealing the dragon in the still-dark sky. He landed with a heavy-sounding thump beside the Sky Wing, sending loose stones skittering down the outcrop.

"Good work, Grimble." The Sky Wing fixed her companion with sharp red pupils. The unnatural eye colour sent a shiver down his spine. Despite the Night Wing's impressive bulk, the Sky Wing's slim, but tall body loomed over him.

"I always do what's asked of me, my Queen." Grimble pulled his dark wings close to his body and lowered his speckled head, two bright slashes of red marking his face.

Grimble rose from his bow and watched as two Mud Wings rose up from the now blazing forest, their throats still glowing red. They circled above, their wings beating unevenly as hot air and smoke rushed up into the sky.

"How long do you think until we start hearing screams?" The ruby-coloured Mud Wing snickered. 

"Sooner than the time it would take you to count your talons" The other one answered.

Silence hung in the air for a long moment as the Mud Wing stared at his talons. "Huh- I don't hear anything.”

The darker brown Mud Wing smacked his tail into the ruby's head. "I didn't mean it literally!"

Grimble watched as they circled about, each glaring at each other. He shook his head slightly and fixed his attention back onto his Queen. She watched the blazing forest, the flames dancing in the reflection of her eyes. Grimble felt a small fire inside of him flare angrily.

She shifted her gaze away from the fire after a long moment. "Take to the skies." She shot an annoyed glance at the two Mud Wings, who had started loudly arguing with each other, "and please at least try to bring me back some good blood." With that, she pushed herself into the air with a single beat of her large wings and flew west, away from the burning forest and the red sun steadily gaining height above the horizon.

The Night Wing tried to push down the fire that burned within him and launched himself off the outcrop with a few clumsy beats, soon catching a drift of hot smoke-filled air and rising up into the red sky. The two Mud Wings stopped their bickering and fell into position behind him. 

The fire was spreading rapidly, thick plumes of smoke from the sap filled trees filling the air. The smoke burned in Grimble's lungs, his eyes watering as he surveyed the forest. He watched as branches crashed down into the forest floor sending up spires of licking flames back up into the sky behind them. 

The first screams of panic were beginning to fill the air as dragons, still bleary-eyed from sleep, realised their homes were burning around them. “Finally... like music to my ears." Grimble heard chuckling from behind him.

The sky was suddenly filled with panicked wingbeats as dragons fled from the flames. A dark-faced Sky Wing shot past them without a second glance, a trail of smoke following the dragon as he twisted through the air, trying to extinguish his flaming tail. Other screams of pain echoed through the forest as sleeping dragons woke up in flames, or got pulled into them by strong thermal drafts. The three dragons continued to calmly survey the ground below them through the chaos.

It wasn't long until they found what they were looking for, a dragonet frozen in fear on the forest floor, as the forest's fire crept towards them. Left behind in the confusion, and too young to fly away to safety. The dragonet's eyes darted around wildly, looking for an escape through the flames.

With a flick of his tail Grimble sent his companions off in opposite directions in search of their own dragonets. He brought in his wings and angled himself to dive down towards his target. With a practised swoop, his talons wrapped around the small ruddy Sky Wing's body. The dragonet's weight hardly hindered him as his powerful wingbeats lifted them away from the forest floor. Their scream rang through the air, sharply piercing Grimble's ears. It seared itself into his memory alongside countless other screams.

Grimble wished he could claw his ears out.

Chapter Text

Chapter One

Daydreams in Flight

Ash fell from the sky as Soren looked up. The tall spruce trees of his home towered above him. With a deep breath, he braced his legs and pushed himself off of the ground. His wings flapped in uncertain motions as the young dragon tried to lift up into the sky.

Soren took another deep breath and closed his eyes, focusing on the feeling of the wind under his wings.

Lifting him up high.

He heard a flutter of other wings flapping beside him and imagined a band of dragons flying alongside him, their battle armour glinting sharply in the sunlight.

Ahead of them, a band of dragons with dark eyes and wicked claws raced towards them.

He bravely led his band forward, their claws extended, ready to clash with their foes.

Impact.

Soren flung his eyes open, a moment of vertigo almost making him lose his balance in the air. He was higher in the air than he had ever flown before, the forest floor looking impossibly far away.

"Look how high I'm flying, Pa!" Kludd chirped happily as he beat his wings furiously a little ways below Soren.

"You'll need to get much higher than that son," their father, Noctus, chuckled softly. "You risk breaking a wing if you try to fly through a forest instead of high above it. One good knock of your wing against a sturdy trunk, and you can say goodbye to your dreams of flying!"

"Now boys, back on the ground, the both of you." Noctus said. Soren let himself drop back to the forest floor with an awkward swoop, a puff of powdery ash lifting off the ground where he landed. His brother plonked down beside him, stumbling and falling over as he misjudged his landing. Soren couldn't help but let out a little laugh at the sight of his twin brother flipped over on his back totally covered in white-grey ash. He and Soren had hatched on the same night, just moments from each other. Kludd claims that he was the first to crack his egg, but when they asked, their Ma and Pa said they were too overwhelmed with joy to remember who's egg had been the first.

His brother quickly scrabbled back onto his feet and glared at Soren. "Your landing wasn't so graceful either." Kludd grumbled, shaking the ash off himself.

Soren sneezed as some of the dust got into his nose, sending more of it flying into the air. Their father cleared his throat to get their attention.

"Now boys, I have a challenge for you two, and I think you're up to it." Soren and Kludd's eyes widened in excitement. "See that branch way up yonder?" He pointed to a thick and sturdy branch up high in the tree they were standing at the foot of. "The first one to make it up to that branch gets a whole deer to themselves for supper tomorrow.”

Kludd whipped his head around to look at Sorren, "Oh that deer is so mine!" 

The two dragonets braced their muscles to launch up and into the air, when a scream suddenly rose into the air making them both freeze.

The spines on Soren's back lifted in fright, "W-what was that?"

"It sounded like Ma." Kludd answered, fear making his voice squeak slightly. 

"Quick!" Their mother's voice screeched through the forest. "The egg is hatching!"

Soren and Kludd both looked at each other in surprise, the egg is hatching!

"Hurry!" Their father said as he raced back towards the direction of their hollow, not waiting for his sons. "It's time to meet your little sister!”

Soren stared at the smooth white surface, he thought he could see a dark outline behind the shell. "Are you sure it's hatching, Ma?" Soren asked.

"Yes, I'm sure! A mother knows these things, Soren." She lectured. "Now, don't rush your sister. She'll come out in her own time."

Soren tried not to be impatient, but his heart was still beating rapidly from the excitement of rushing back to their hollow. 

Soren, along with his brother Kludd and his parents Noctus and Marella, lived in the hollow of an ancient spruce tree that now rested on the forest floor. Its death provided the dragon family with a fairly spacious, and sheltered place to call home. Soren loved their hollow, the thick walls always made him feel safe, and his father's snoring echoing off them at night never failed to lull him into a peaceful sleep.

The egg jolted suddenly. Soren heard a faint noise, almost like the sound that squirrels made when they climbed over their roof. He held his breath, scared that any movement might cause his sister to go still again. 

"Here she comes." Noctus whispered.

The egg rocked again, stronger this time. Soren was sure now, he could see a darker outline of his sister moving within the egg, pushing against the hard shell.

"What if she's not strong enough to break through?" Kludd asked anxiously from beside him.

"Don't worry son, she knows what to do." Marella said softly. Just then, the egg nearly jumped and a large crack appeared on its surface like a miniature canyon. The crack continued to grow as the egg rocked back and forth. It wasn't much longer until a loud crack rang out in the hollow and the egg split open. Soren was completely overwhelmed with joy as his little sister crawled out of the egg, knocking aside pieces of eggshell with her small arms. The little cream coloured dragonet shook herself and looked around in wonder, a piece of eggshell still stuck to her porcelain face.

"Oh Noctus! Look at her, isn't she the prettiest thing you've ever seen?" Marella chirped happily. 

"That's because she's got your face." Noctus replied.

The little dragonet gazed up at her parents with pitch-black eyes. "Ma? Pa?" She asked, her voice small and quiet. 

"This is the Forest Kingdom of Sky." Noctus said to the dragonet. He lifted up his talons to pluck off the little piece of eggshell stuck to her head. "Welcome to your home, Eglantine."

As Soren stared at his wide eyed little sister, he felt like he was glowing. Warmth spread all the way to the end of his wingtips. In that moment, he knew in his heart that we would do anything for her, and wanted nothing more than to protect her from evil.

Chapter Text

Chapter Two

Night at the Hollow

"Time for bed!" Marella announced.

"What!" Soren protested. "But we aren't done our game of Battle of the Ice Claws yet!"

"We're almost done!" Eglantine pleaded "I was just about to claw Soren's eyes out!"

Marella's eyes widened at her daughter's statement. "Noctus! I thought I told you not to teach her that story." She said to her mate. 

He glanced at her apologetically. "They ask, I tell."

"I'm serious, off to bed, the both of you." She said sternly.

Soren grabbed the play helmet on Eglantine's head and lifted it off. Noctus had carved it out of wood for Soren when he was younger and he had loved it so much that he'd worn it almost every day. Nowadays, the helmet was too snug to fit over his head anymore.

"Sorry Eg, we'll finish our game tomorrow." 

"And you'll let me claw your eyes out?" She asked.

"I promise."

Eglantine hoped joyfully over to her bed and plopped herself down. Kludd rolled his eyes from where he was already curled up in his own bed. "Thank Draux, I don't know how much longer I could listen to that."

"Don't be a grouch," Soren said. "You're just jealous because I let Eg play Ifghar instead of you."

"I don't play pretend anymore. Honestly, you're too old to still be playing those games." Kludd rebutted. "Wouldn't you rather practice flying more?" Ever since Eglantine was born, they hadn't had much time to keep practising. With an extra mouth to feed both of their parents needed to go out hunting now, often leaving Kludd and Soren on babysitting duty.

"I don't want to hear anymore chattering!" Called their mother from the other side of the room where her and Noctus slept. 

Soren walked over and turned in a tight circle over his bed before flopping down dramatically. An annoyed puff escaped his nose. 

"You used to love playing battle with me." He whispered hoping his mother wouldn't hear.

"Yes, and then I stopped believing in those fairy tales Da spouts." Kludd whispered back.

Soren felt a little twinge in his heart. "They're not fairy tales."

Kludd rolled over. Soren stared at his brother's back for a long while, expecting a rebuke from him but never got one. Soren knew in his heart that the stories his dad told were true. They're true, he thought. The Guardians are real. Soren soon noticed the slow rise and fall of his brother's chest. Kludd had fallen asleep, and so had Eglantine, mirroring Kludd.

Soren tried to fall asleep himself, but even with his eyes closed his thoughts were still bouncing around in his head. His father's stories were always so full of detail, they had always seemed so real to Soren. What if Kludd is right? Maybe I should get my head out of the clouds and start concentrating more on learning how to fly. He and his brother were nearing the age that Sky Wing's started to fly, and it wouldn't be long until their parents would start bringing them along on hunts and teaching them to make lives of their own in the Kingdom.

Soren squeezed his eyes shut as tightly as he could. Stop thinking... Stop thinking...

His ears picked up a quiet murmur that he couldn't quite make out. He lifted his head slightly to better capture the sound and cracked open his eyes a tad. It was his Ma and Pa leaning in close together, a worried look on Ma's face.

"... dragonets still missing?" Soren caught the end of the whisper.

"They've searched high and low, but they haven't even found..." Noctus trailed off.

Marella stayed silent for a long moment. "Thank Draux that our dragonets are safe. I don't like hearing about missing dragonets Noctus, I can't help but feel like something sinister is happening in the Kingdom."

"It's the fire, Marella, it caused so much confusion. They'll find them I'm sure."

Soren remembered waking up the next morning after the forest fire had blazed a path through the Kingdom of Sky. It had seemed to him like a giant dragon had picked up their home and plopped it back down in a completely different forest. Though the flames had thankfully burned far from their home, the sky was still completely covered in thick grey smoke, and the ground and trees had been covered in white flakes. The once familiar forest had seemed frightening and alien to him.

"And what about Finch's dragonet? She went missing long before that fire." Marella asked, her voice raising slightly. Hortense, a dragonet around Soren's age that he and his brother often played with, had gone missing a couple of moons ago. He and Kludd had helped her family search for the dragonet, but it had been like she'd disappeared into thin air. They would have been learning to fly together by now.

His father glanced over to where Soren and his siblings were sleeping. Soren quickly slammed his eyes shut, hoping that Noctus wouldn't have noticed him awake. He heard his father sigh and the rustling of him rising.

Soft footsteps approached Soren as he pretended to be asleep. "What's wrong son? Can't sleep?"

Soren opened his eyes anew and looked up at his father. "I don't want Eglantine to disappear like Hortense." He whispered quietly.

His father's face softened. "Eglantine doesn't have anything to worry about, not with two strong brothers to protect her." Noctus rested one of his wings on Soren's side reassuringly. "Do you think a story would help you fall asleep?"

Soren's ears perked up, "Yes!"

"Which one would you like to hear? I'll let you choose." 

Soren didn't even need to think of his answer, "The Legend of the Guardians, please Pa."

"Alright, son." Noctus chuckled softly. "I believe it goes something like this..."

"Once upon a very long time ago, in the time of Draux, there was an order of knightly dragons, from a kingdom beyond the Beyond, who would rise each night into the blackness and perform noble deeds.They spoke no words but true ones, their purpose was to right all wrongs, to make strong the weak, mend the broken, vanquish the proud, and make powerless those who abused the frail..."

Chapter Text

Chapter Three

Forest of Shadows

The smoggy light of the sun cast the forest below Soren's wings in an eerie red glow. He looked around and saw several plumes of smoke rising up from the dense forest. More fires?

Soren didn't recognise the forest as he glanced beneath him. The trees were wound together tightly, hardly leaving any gaps in the canopy. As he inspected the forest, a scream rose up into the sky. 

"Soren! Help me!" The voice cried out again.

Kludd? Soren whipped his head side to side trying to pinpoint the source of the cries. He spotted a clearing in the canopy and peered down it. Kludd lay splayed in the clearing, one of his wings angled oddly. Fire was slowly creeping its way towards his wounded brother.

"Kludd! I'm coming!" He quickly dived down into the clearing, landing beside his brother and squishing soft ferns beneath his talons.

As Soren reached to grab his brother, Kludd suddenly rose and launched himself at him. He hit the ground hard and tumbled into a tree—knocking the breath out of his lungs.

Soren slowly rose back to his feet and glanced at his brother. Kludd stood in front of him, flames dancing in the reflection of his dark eyes. "Hello, brother."

The sun was suddenly blocked overhead. They both glanced up and watched as a white Sky Wing descended from the sky, her massive wings stained blood-red. She landed in the clearing beside Kludd, and glared at him with piercing red eyes.

Soren gasped as his eyes flew open. He was back in his hollow, his father's snores reverberating off the walls. He looked around, his heart-beat roaring loudly in his head. Eglantine was sleeping right where he'd last seen her, chest rising and falling softly. Kludd was looking at him with one eye peeked open.

"Dad's stories giving you nightmares?" He asked mockingly. "You were crying out in your sleep."

A wave of embarrassment washed over Soren, mixing with his fear.

"Well, since you're awake, want to finally go see who can make it up to that branch?" Kludd sat up in his bed. "Unless you're too scared?"

"Nah, I'm not scared." Soren said with as brave of a voice he could muster. "But Ma will kill us if she finds out we went into the forest at night."

"Hm. Sounds like you're scared to me." Kludd laid back down and turned over in his bed. "I guess I'll just go back to sleep then."

Soren tried to calm down his heart. "Okay, Fine." Kludd quickly turned back around, his eyes glinting mischievously.

The brothers slowly tip-toed their way out of the hollow, pausing every time there was a gap in their father's snoring. Soren found his father's snoring soothing, but it also had its use in covering up any noises the two young owls might make. When they passed through their doorway the two brothers both let out a sigh of relief. Their mother's wrath was something neither of them wanted to invoke. 

Soren had seldom been out in the forest this late, dark shadows stretched out into the night. The moon's light did its best to pierce through the smoke still hanging in the air but it still left the forest unnaturally dark. The last time he and his brother had snuck out, it had been to play battle together with perfectly sword-shaped branches that they had hidden away in some bushes the day before. The dragonets had never been allowed to play with fake weapons, their mother being too worried one of them would hurt the other. 

Soren followed his brother as he confidently led them to the ancient spruce tree they often practised flying near. The tree was so large that it towered impossibly high up into the sky, its branches grew so large and thick that it blocked too much sunlight below for other trees to grow. The tree created a perfect clearing for two young dragons to practice their flying, and also offered the perfect challenge for them.

"That one." Kludd pointed to the tree's lowest branch. 

"I don't know, Kludd. Don't you think that would be too easy?" Soren pointed to a branch some ways above it. "How about that one?" One thing that Soren knew well about his brother was that he would never say no to a challenge. Soren wanted to beat his brother, and Kludd had powerful wings, but Soren had the better endurance.

Instead of answering, Kludd simply jumped up into the air and started flapping his wings hastily.

"Hey! That's not fair!" Soren quickly followed his brother, swooping his wings in dramatic motions to catch up to him.

As Soren steadily closed the distance between them, Kludd looked down at him. Seeing how close Soren was to him, he tried to quicken his pace but lurched awkwardly in the air—losing his balance and crashing down into Soren. A yelp escaped both of them as they stumbled in the air. Soren quickly managed to regain his balance with a few flaps of his wing. He looked down, and saw Kludd hit the ground on his back.

His brother groaned and tried to roll over but gasped in pain. Soren quickly swooped back down to the ground, nervousness knotting his stomach. 

"Are you okay?" He whispered, scared that their mother would be able to hear them all the way out here.

"I-I think I hurt my shoulder." Kludd said nervously.

"Here, let me help you up." Soren extended his hand to his brother. Kludd wrapped his talons around Soren's, and he pulled him up. Kludd groaned again but managed to scramble onto his feet. He tested his weight on the right and winced.

"Oh Draux, Ma really is going to kill us." Kludd put weight on his right arm again. "I don't think anything is broken at least."

"Do you think you can make it back to the hollow?" Soren asked, the quiet of the night making him nervous. He didn't want to leave his brother alone while he went for help.

"I'll be fine." He said, setting his jaw.

They started to slowly make their way back to the hollow, Kludd limping behind Soren.

"What was that?" Kludd asked, stopping in his tracks.

"What was what?" Soren asked.

"I thought I heard something."

A dark shape swooped down from the black sky onto the two dragonets. Before a scream could escape Soren's mouth, the shape barrelled into him, knocking him over. Darkness spun around Soren as talons gripped one of his back legs tightly and he was lifted up into the sky.

Soren saw the forest below him shrinking and Kludd staring up after him with shocked eyes.

"Kludd!" Soren screeched.

"Oh, don't worry, he's coming with us too." A deep voice said from above him. 

Another dragon swooped out from the shadows and grabbed Kludd. He let out a cry of pain as the dragon dug his talons into his shoulders.

The world spun for a disorienting moment as Soren was flung by his captor, and caught by his shoulders. Soren threw up the content of his stomach.

"Uhg." The Mud Wing holding onto him scrunched his face in disgust. "Why do they always throw up when I do that?"

The dragon with Kludd in his talons flew up beside them as they headed off in the opposite direction of their hollow.

"Nice eyes, Jatt." The Mud Wing holding onto Kludd said. "We would have had to go back empty handed."

Soren felt the dragon holding him shiver, "We would have been better off not going back at all."

Soren looked behind him, and watched as the forest he called home grew smaller and smaller, until he could no longer recognise it.

Chapter Text

Chapter Four

Soaring to Doom

The further and further the two Mud Wings carried away the twin brothers, the more and more the terrain changed underneath them. The towering spruce trees of the Kingdom of Sky thinned out into a rocky landscape, and then into fields and fields of sand reflecting late morning sun back into their eyes. Soren could feel the sun on his scales, though it was still hardly high up into the sky.

As they continued to fly over the fields of sand, other dragons slowly joined them in flight, each carrying frightened dragonets in their talons. The sizable band of dragons traversed the sky together, all flying west. They flew in eerie silence, fear gripping the maws of the dragonets shut.

A bulky Night Wing flew up from the sandy ground and installed himself beside Soren's captors. The black dragon held a small sandy-brown dragonet.

Jatt bumped his wing into the Mud Wing holding Kludd. "Jutt, look, it's Grimble."

Jutt looked to his side, "We'll, hello Grimble." He puffed out his chest and gave him a haughty look. "We've got two new soldiers for the Queen."

Grimble eyed Soren and Kludd with critical eyes. "They seem a little old." He noted. "You know the Queen doesn't like it if they're already flying." 

Jatt and Jutt exchanged glances with each other. "Well, let's see." Jutt unclasped his talons from around Kludd, sending him plummeting downwards.

His brother's screech reached Soren's ears as he flailed his wings, only causing his body to spin in the air as he continued to fall. 

"Kludd!" Soren screamed after him.

"Hm, looks like he can't fly." Jutt confirmed before diving down after him.

Soren closed his eyes as Kludd neared the ground, not able to witness what would happen next. His pounding heart blocked out the world around him, but relief washed over his scales as he heard Kludd's gulping breaths as Jutt carried him back up into the sky.

"Is all you managed a little Sand Wing?" Jatt questioned once Jutt was back at his side. "Are you getting too old to carry anything heavier?"

Jutt started to chuckle but abruptly stopped when he noticed Grimble's unimpressed stare. "The Queen needs more than just soldiers. She's small, yes, but Sand Wings are hard workers." He said with a monotone voice.

Grimble abruptly stared ahead of him, signalling that their short conversation was over, and with a couple strong beats of his wings placed himself in front of the Mud Wings. Jatt and Jutt continued flying on in silence. 

Soren examined the Sand Wing dragonet ahead of him. She was very small, about the same size as Eglantine. Is she a hatchling? The dragonet shivered violently in fear between Grimble's talons. 

Soren felt a tug at his heart. He pushed down his own terror and whispered, "My name's Soren. What's yours?"

She turned her head around to look at him with giant yellow eyes. "I-I'm Gylfie. I'm from the Desert Kingdom of Sand." She said.

"The Desert?" Soren echoed. "My da taught me about the desert, is that what we're flying over?"

Gylfie nodded her head. "Where are you from?" Her shaking slowed as she continued to talk to him.

"The Forest Kingdom of-" 

The talons gripping Soren's shoulders tightened painfully as an angry face angled itself down to look at him. "No talking! If I hear another peep out of you I'll drop you like your brother, except I won't go after you."

"Nice one Jatt." Jutt said. "You sounded very intimidating."

"Why thank you."

Sand turned to rock, and the rocks turned to orange hued stone. Large flat-topped spires of the stone rose up into the air, leaving cracks between the stone that descended down into darkness. A horrible feeling welled up in Soren's stomach. He felt like he was going to vomit again.

The sun now hung high in the sky, and it beat down harshly on his scales. He'd never experienced piercing heat like this before. His home had always provided humid shade to cool off during hot days. The heat hung oppressively in the air bearing down on the dragons as they continued flying without pause.

Suddenly Soren saw the furthest dragon in the band swoop downwards into one of the shadowed canyons. The other dragons swooped down after him one by one.

Jatt swooped down after Jutt, and the talons that had gripped his shoulders were suddenly gone. Soren felt a whirling feeling as he fell the rest of the way down into the canyon, slamming hard down onto the stone. A dragonet stepped on his talon, making him wince in pain and quickly drag himself off the ground.

The abandoned group of dragonets huddled together at the bottom of the canyon they had been dropped into. A few of the larger dragonets, that Soren thought might be Night or Mud Wings placed themselves around the smaller dragonets in a protective circle.

Dragonets all around Soren cried out questions and demands. He glanced around looking for Kludd but didn't see him in the chaos. He spotted Gylfie still splayed on the stone floor near him. 

He pushed his way through and towards her. "Stay near me." He told her, helping her up.

The sun overhead was blocked out, casting them into deeper darkness. The dragonets glanced up as a massive Sky Wing descended down. She perched herself on a rock ledge above the group, tucking in her blood-red wings close to her body. Several other dragons swooped down onto the canyon floor, holding glinting spears. The armoured dragons surrounded the dragonets, while two stayed on either side of the Sky Wing.

Soren felt terror grip him, the monster from his nightmare was right in front of him, her unsettling red eyes boring down into the huddled dragonets.

"Welcome to St. Aegolius Academy for Orphaned Dragonets." Her voice echoed off the stone walls. "You have been abandoned by your families, and brought here to be taken care of."

Soren could feel the confusion washing off the dragonets around him. Abandoned?

"Take us back to our families!" one of the Mud Wing dragonets called out. "We aren't orphans!"

Others quickly joined in, angry and confused voices filling the canyon.

The Sky Wings face twisted in anger. She flicked her tail and the armoured dragons pressed in on the dragonets. 

"Quiet!" One's voice boomed at them. "How dare you speak to your Queen in that manner?"

"She's not our Queen!" The same dragonet who started the commotion declared.

The armoured dragon hit him in the side hard with his spear, sending the Mud Wing stumbling onto the ground.

"Enough! I am Queen Nyra, ruler of the Pure Ones." She spoke, the dragonets stunned into silence. "Some of you will become my soldiers. Some of you will become guardians."

"Guardians?" a small voice echoed. 

"Yes, that's right, little one. Guardians, noble dragons who protect you young orphans against those who wish you harm."

Soren suddenly felt hot all over. "That's not true! We're not orphans. And you're not Guardians." He yelled at her.

Nyra hissed and stabbed her venomous gaze at Soren. He flinched at her red eyes and instinctively raised his wing to protect Gylfie.

"That's a shame. You would have made a fine soldier." She hissed coldly. "Enjoy your time as a picker, along with that little friend of yours, and maybe we'll make a soldier out of you once you realise where you really belong."

Chapter Text

Chapter Five

Heart of the Canyon

The butt of a metal spear stabbed painfully into Soren's back as he was pushed along. The armoured dragons marched alongside the group of fearful dragonets as they were led towards a dark crack in the side of the canyon. The Sky Wing dragonets had quickly been separated from the rest of them, with the exception of Soren. He craned his neck trying to catch a glimpse of Kludd, but he and the other Sky dragonets had already disappeared from view. A deep hollowness settled in his stomach.

Gylfie stuck close to his side, Soren holding a protective wing over her. They entered the narrow tunnel and his skin felt soothed by the shade after standing in the oppressive canyon heat. The floor had been worn smooth and felt slightly damp underneath his feet. They followed the natural path through the stone, their guards occasionally pushing them along with prods from their spears.

"Where are you taking us?" A brave voice ventured.

"You'll see soon enough." one of the armoured faces grunted.

They continued to round bend after bend, and Soren was no longer sure from which direction that they had come from. A group of blank eyed dragonets appeared on the path ahead of them as they rounded another corner and the guards pushed them to the side. Soren examined them in quiet horror as they passed. The group barely gave them a glance, they just trudged along with large baskets filled with stones, some clutched in arms and others tied onto their sides with thick rope. They seemed to be covered in a thick layer of dust, giving them all brownish-red appearances.

"Somethings not right with them." He whispered as loud as he dared to Gylfie.

She met his eye but didn't utter anything in response.

The dusty dragonets now behind them, they continued quickly along the path. Soren noticed that the tunnel floor became covered in small sharp pebbles that dug uncomfortably into the bottom of his feet. The tunnel also began to widen and sunlight started streaming more freely into the deep crevice.

They exited out of the pathway and into another large canyon floor like the one that they had been dropped into. Large boulders were stacked into high piles all along the floor, and a steep winding path circled down into darkness in the centre of the canyon.

"Welcome to the Pit." One of the guards turned to face them. "Here you'll do important work serving the Higher Good. You will all start off as pickers, and those of you who work hard and prove yourselves will be rewarded with more important work."

Having finished his little speech, they continued along heading closer to the Pit. Blank-eyed dragonets marched everywhere, all of them covered in the same thick dust as the group that had passed them in the tunnel. Small dragonets that must have been Sand Wings like Gylfie darted around in an almost urgent frenzy, large Mud Wings worked together to heave large boulders up the sloping path of the Pit, others hauled heavy baskets full of rocks away into dark twisting pathways. The commotion of it all made his head feel as if it was spinning.

"Finally, here she comes." The guards looked relieved and quickly left the group of orphaned dragonets standing awkwardly near the entrance of the Pit. Soren looked around in confusion.

She? They don't mean that monstrous Sky Wing do they? Soren worried.

He almost let out a sigh of relief as a large Ice Wing dragon dived down onto the floor beside them.

"Hello! You must be the new arrivals!" She squeaked happily. "Oh you lot are so cute, I swear you just keep on coming younger and younger!"

She swayed in front of them, trying to get a good look at all of the huddled dragonets in front of her. The orange stone walls cast a strange glow onto her, turning her nearly white scales into a salmon colour. Soren realized that she was the first Ice Wing he'd ever seen, the wing usually preferring to live in the colder regions of the Kingdom of Ice. Da had told him it was because they didn't particularly enjoy the heat, having thick scales to keep them warm. Soren quietly wondered what a cold-loving dragon could possibly be doing in this insufferable heat.

With a chilling grin on her face she continued, "you must all be so excited to start picking but we have a couple things to get to first!"

She quickly whipped around and started marching them away from the center of the canyon and towards a shaded rock shelter.

"You can call me Aunt Finny!" She announced. "I'm the Pit Guardian, which means it's my responsibility to take care of you lot while you're here."

As they approached, Soren noticed dirtied piles of dried grass placed somewhat orderly on the floor.

"Welcome to your new home. Whenever you have time, you can come here to rest." She explained. "Before you're ready to join the rest of your groups, we've got to do a couple more things."

The pretty Ice Wing walked up to the closest dragonet to her and asked, "What's your name, little one?"

The dragonet, a Night Wing Sorren was fairly certain, puffed out his chest bravely. "The name's Twilight." He announced. "Gave it to myself."

Gave it to himself? Soren wondered.

Finny looked at the dragonet with a little bit of confusion. "Hm, well, that name won't do one bit even if you chose it yourself. Your new name will be 11-1. Doesn't that sound much nicer?"

It was Twilight's turn to look confused. "Pardon me mam', but a number’s not a name." He said.

Anger quickly twisted her features. "It's a fine name!" She hissed. "And that's Aunt Finny to you."

Soren's heart started as she turned to him. "And what's your name sweetheart?" Just as fast as her anger appeared it had melted away back into sticky sweetness.

"Soren." He answered with a nervous gulp.

"Oh no no no, that won't do at all." Aunt Finny shook her head. "Your new name will be 12-1."